. Gene Roddenberry decided that the best way to create a worthy adversary for the TNG crew was to take all the elements he didn't like about humanity such as greed, imperialistic attitudes, unrefined behaviors, uncaring morals and sexist views (.....starting to sound like Gene actually) and dial it up to 11. The end result was the Ferengi, a race so ridiculous that their premier episode was hated by everyone involved. ... Something else had to be done.

Why anyone would think that a worthy adversary would be characterized as "someone you really don't like" is beyond me.

But it seems to me that when they created a truly worthy adversary in the Borg, they did so by going the opposite route. They took all the aspects of Roddenberry's "evolved humanity", maybe unintentionally, and dialed that up to 11. Or maybe 99.

Anyway: lack of interpersonal conflict, working toward perfection for its own sake, the attitude that you've evolved beyond your own flaws, and the arrogance that comes with all that. That's the Borg in a nutshell.